Serial Killers: Born Or Made Evil

“We serial killers are your sons. We are your husbands. We are everywhere. And there will be more of your children dead tomorrow.”This famous quote came from the notorious killer Ted Bundy, a man known for his ghastly crimes, his intelligence, his charm, and his utter lack of human emotion, but what drove this man down a wicked path? There are many theories about why humans commit unspeakable evil, but none of them are particularly comforting. If the childhoods of serial killers are filled with abuse and hardship, then they can appear to be victims of painful circumstances. Adolf Hitler, Charles Manson, Jeffrey Dahmer, are just a few of the men that were categorized as being monsters and inhumane, were these individuals the product of a bitter upbringing or were they born evil?

Are Serial Killers Born or Made and When It Began?

Thousands of years ago, human beings fought avoidable wars, mutilated prisoners, murdered, and ravaged. Not surprisingly, all of that still happens in today’s society. The world we live in is a fundamentally bad one. Terrorist bomb cities, public executions occur and girls all over the world are being sold into sex slavery. From looking at the world around us and seeing our decay, it is bizarre to believe that we are naturally good.

With there being many prolific killers in history, each one begs the question, where did it all begin? was each perpetrator carefully handcrafted by the hands of the devil and brought into this world, or was ones mental and social wellbeing flawed so much by being a victim of mental along with physical abuse. The surroundings of a serial killer as a toddler can have great repercussions on the way he or she will go about his or her life Certain experience, alcohol abuse, such as divorce, child neglect, and or drug abuse can be detrimental to the development of an infant. Because of their upbringing and early life experiences, serial killers turn to psychotic killing rampages. ‘The emotional, social and physical development of young children has a direct effect on their overall development and on the adult, they will become.’ this links to why ruthless killers behavior during adulthood articulate with the environment and household they endured when they were in their youth

Theodore Robert Bundy, also known as ‘Ted Bundy’ was an individual who confessed to having brutally murdered over 30 women and some girls. His campaign of animalistic violence gripped the country in a state of sheer terror between 1974 and 78. His childhood follows the same damaged path found in most cases which could be the answer to his unhinged and violent behavior. During his youth, he started life as his mother’s shame, due to her being unmarried, his birth would greatly humiliate her deeply religious parents. So he would be raised as the adopted son of his grandparents, he would soon unravel the mystery behind his birth and this troubled relationship with his mother and utter confusion would only serve as fuel to his sadistic nature. His grandfather was presumed to be violent and had a volatile temper and that his grandmother was often the unhappy victim of his rage. This rocky start in life paved the way for one of the worlds most infamous killers. In this case, a boy was born as a clear white canvas but was corrupted and changed by the swift harsh strokes of violence and turmoil.

Although the desire to kill becomes ingrained in serial killers during youth, research shows that a chromosome abnormality which plays a vital role in the creation of these savages. ‘According to Dr. Helen Morrison, an American forensic psychologist and writer, chromosome abnormality in serial killers begins to express itself during puberty’. She came to the conclusion that this excess chromosome could be the trigger to their murderous behavior. She used serial killer, ‘Bobby Joe Long’ as an example as she believed that his excess chromosome leads to an increase in the amount of oestrogen which induced embarrassment and anger due to his development of breasts. She also theorized serial killers tend to establish a sense of detachment from the rest of the world from a very early age. This basically leads to an absence of empathy which results in a gruesome death for their unsuspecting victims. Research also done by Professor Jim Fallon, a neuroscientist has been examining the brains of psychopaths using brain imaging. ‘He found low activity in the orbital cortex seems to be involved in sociopathic behaviors and have trouble suppressing rage and violence.’ These studies help dive into the darker regions of these people minds and let us comprehend just how fractured a person needs to be in order to effectuate such heinous work.

Conclusion

We may never know just what makes these monstrous and complex humans tick, my understanding of how these people think and act the way they do is clouded by my disbelief in the horrors they have inflicted on their victims.the future killer should receive counseling to help them recuperate from the abuse and the child’s violent behavior would not develop. If society became involved and made sure that each child was loved and treated well, many lives would be saved in the future. The bottom line of this paper is that serial killers develop as children because of the abuse they receive. Traumatic childhood experiences all lead to the development of the most frightening psychopath of all-The Serial Killer.

Works Cited

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